The 15 biggest UK channel acquisitions of the year...so far
From the return of Misco to the £120m sale of SecureData, we round up the blockbuster deals concluded in the first half of 2019
After an action-packed 2018 that saw SoftwareOne and Comparex merge and Apogee acquired by HP for £380m, the channel M&A bandwagon is gathering pace again, with a flurry of deals concluded in recent days and weeks.
As we pass the half-way point of 2019, here we count down the top 15 acquisitions among distributors, resellers and MSPs so far this year.
We arrived at our judgements based on a number of factors, including deal size (where it was disclosed), added revenues, and the impact and profile of the deals in question. All deals involved either UK firms, or firms with operations here.
15. Misco brand acquired by UK Computer Group
Starting with a deal whose (presumably) small value is outweighed by its impact, the Misco brand made a surprise return to the UK channel on 1 July after UK Computer Group acquired the naming rights to the reseller.
Misco has been missing from the market since it went bust in 2017, but has been resurrected with a new website and offices under its new owners.
Rationale:
Russell Dickinson, head of marketing at UK Computer Group and an ex-Misco employee, said the aim is to revive the Misco of old.
Added scale:
The new Misco UK launched with a team of 10, with headcount expected to hit 30 by the end of the year.
The business will fall under the leadership of UK Computer Group CEO Gary Watson, but will operate independently of its subsidiary UK Computer Supplies (UKCS).
UKCS itself reported sales of £15m in 2017, according to files on Companies House, and says its 2018 revenue hit £23m.
What they said:
"There was a massive change in the Misco perception after 2012; we all know what happened, but we want to try to bring the old, pre-2012 Misco back," Dickinson told CRN.
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14. Pivotal Networks, PCL Services and SITS Group merge to form Trustack
Rationale: All three companies work in overlapping areas such as cloud computing datacentre services, managed services and unified comms.
Added scale: The three north-eastern firms - scattered across Durham and Sunderland - have joined together to form TruStack, which is expected to have a turnover of more than £10m.
The directors are execs from all three firms: Joe Olabode, Richard Common, Paul Watson, Phil Cambers, Russell Henderson and Geoff Hodgson (pictured below).
What they said: "There is clearly a very similar positive culture between all of the businesses," the directors said in a joint statement.
"It makes sense to merge and the joining of the businesses will, in turn, benefit our loyal and longstanding client base who will get access to an even wider pool of commercial, administrative and technical services. We have spent many months performing due-diligence on all sides and we are delighted to announce this merger."
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13. Möbius Business Technologies acquired by Recarta
A £15m VAR was created in May when IBM specialist Recarta grabbed AWS and Microsoft partner Möbius Business Technologies
Rationale:
Recarta said the virtualisation and cloud specialist would bolster its vendor line-up.
Founded in 2010, Möbius holds Silver partner accreditations with Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Veeam, and brings a number of new vendors into Recarta's portfolio.
Added scale:
Recarta was ranked 263rd in CRN's VAR 300 report with sales of £9.2m for the year ending 31 March 2018. Möbius, meanwhile, saw sales rocket over 50 per cent to £6.5m during its year ending 31 January 2019. Recarta said it will have over 300 SMB and enterprise customers as a result of the acquisition, while further diversifying its product set, having previously been known as an IBM-centric partner.
What they said:
"The acquisition of Möbius Business Technologies enhances our IT infrastructure and managed service capability into new IT vendor areas such as HP, AWS, Microsoft and Mimecast," said Recarta MD Daren Bland.
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12. Modality acquired by GCI
Unified comms specialist GCI is no stranger to the M&A game, having powered to £100m revenues on the back of a string of high-profile purchases including Freedom Communications and Blue Chip.
Last month it moved for Modality, a fellow Microsoft collaboration and UC specialist ranked 228th in CRN's VAR 300 - its first deal since private equity firm Mayfair became a majority stakeholder in it last year.
Rationale:
GCI, which is headed up by Adrian Thirkill (pictured), snapped up Modality in order to go global. Modality has offices in the US, Australia and Asia - along with its HQ in St Albans.
Added scale:
Modality hit revenues of £12.5m in its year to 31 December 2017. It adds over 170 heads to GCI's employee base, which now stands at around 600.
What they said:
"Modality is one of the largest Microsoft communications and collaboration players," GCI CTO Constantine told CRN.
" One of the key aspects of successfully deploying a Microsoft-based technology is making sure the pre-work that you do with the customer ahead of the actual technical implementation is done because that ensures that the adoption [is a] success. We see that...being a strong part of our portfolio and Modality successfully does it for larger organisations."
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11. Zedsphere acquired by QBS
Software distributor QBS started 2019 with a bang, acquiring French distie Siener Informatique in February and then Wokingham-based VAD Zedsphere in March.
Rationale: QBS MD Dave Stevinson (pictured below) said that managed services specialist Zedsphere would add 814 unique resellers to QBS' roster, as well as offering a high proportion of monthly recurring revenues.
Added scale: Zedsphere's Warrington office is added to the offices QBS already has in London, Paris and Telford.
What they said: " We are developing QBS to meet the current and anticipated requirements of our reseller partners and software publishers - we see this acquisition having future value for the specialist software distribution landscape," explained Stevinson.
"The acquisition of Zedsphere strengthens our software delivery platform and gives us a dedicated arm with a laser focus to deliver outstanding services to the MSP community."
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10. Nouveau Solutions acquired by Vinci Energies
Wokingham-based Nouveau wears many hats, describing itself as an expert in such areas as security services, business managed IT services and support, Microsoft development and implementation services, as well as a wide range of datacentre and cloud services.
Rationale: Vinci Energies - part of French giant Vinci - owns Axians, which counts AWS, Dell EMC and Cisco among its partners.
It bought Nouveau in order to boost its Axians ICT capabilities, which in the UK is a £50m-revenue networking specialist.
Added scale: Nouveau does not report its full accounts but claimed to have sales of £7m and a staff of 35.
What they said: "Nouveau Solutions Ltd is a fantastic addition to the Vinci Energies group and marks another big milestone in our ambitious plan," stated Rochdi Ziyat, Vinci Energies CEO for UK & Ireland (pictured far right with Nouveau Solutions MD Andy Stevens, centre, and non-executive director Michael Tuson).
"Vinci Energies entered the UK's ICT market in 2014 and this latest acquisition will bolster the strengths of our Axians brand and bring complementary capabilities to Axians Networks, enabling us to make our customers' ICT solutions ready for their secure digital future."
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9. G3 Comms acquired by Apiary Capital
In the first of two deals involving Apiary Capital in this list, the recently formed private equity house acquired London-based Avaya and Skype for Business partner G3 Comms in March.
Rationale: Founded in 2017, Apiary is on the hunt for multiple acquisitions in the managed services space, and zoned in on G3 as its maiden buy. The aim was to use G3 as a platform for further deals, a pledge it has lived up to with its acquisition this week of G3 competitor Connect Managed Services.
Added scale: G3 reported revenues of £17.8m for its year ending 30 April 2018. Together with Connect, Apiary claims it has built a £55m-revenue player, with the goal now to expand further in the UK and overseas.
What they said: "G3 Comms has built a platform that is now extremely well placed to exploit the increasing corporate demand for service providers that can manage the complexity of diverse communications systems," said Apiary partner Nicki Boyd (pictured right).
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8. Pinacl Solutions acquired by Aliter Capital
Welsh IoT specialist Pinacl was acquired by the PE firm as it was seeking extra capital to go after bigger bids. Pinacl was owned by CEO Rob Bardwell and five fellow directors who undertook a management buyout (MBO) in 2015.
Rationale: "Our approach really was to get some gap funding in place and that culminated in Aliter liking us so much that it bought the company," Bardwell told CRN at the time.
"We went out looking for money to accelerate our growth and Aliter was looking for ICT companies to bring into its group."
Added scale: Aliter took a majority stake in Glasgow-based Boston Networks last year. The addition of Pinacl (which will continue to operate under its own name) to its portfolio creates a £50m-revenue business with a workforce of 300.
What they said: "Our growth plans are for Pinacl to get closer to £30m in this current year from our current revenue of £22m - that's quite aggressive growth in a year," stated Bardwell (pictured below).
"In the Local Full Fibre Networks programme, we are bidding for four contracts. If we were to win all four, that would bring us nearer £45m. We wouldn't get to bid for that work without the venture capital funds, which is how this all occurred."
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7. ASL acquired by Primary Capital Partners
At the start of July, managed print provider ASL Group secured investment from Primary Capital Partners following a seven-year stint with Mobeus Equity Partners.
Rationale:
Primary has pledged to "accelerate" ASL's M&A activity, which was already fairly prolific under Mobeus. The Cambridge-based ‘managed-office services' specialist made its tenth acquisition last November in the shape of £5m-revenue rival Geerings Digital.
Added scale:
Ranked 177th in CRN's VAR 300, and 19th in our 2019 Print Provider Report, ASL turned over £21.4m in its most recent year and now claims to offer UC, software, IT and print to 5,000 UK customers. The deal with Primary will enable it to continue to grow its business both organically and acquisitively, according to ASL MD Mark Garius.
What they said:
"ASL is a leading operator in a highly fragmented marketplace. Having first met Mark and [group sales director] Paul [Derry] several years ago, we continued to track the business and are delighted to now partner with them," said Primary partner Alec Parkinson.
"Their knowledge of the industry is unparalleled in the UK, and we are excited to work with them and their colleagues to enable the company to accelerate its acquisition strategy and become the pre-eminent independent managed-office services provider."
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6. Connect Managed Services acquired by Apiary Capital
Private equity fund Apiary followed up its majority purchase of G3 in March by grabbing another Avaya and Microsoft partner at the start of July in the shape of Connect Managed Services.
Rationale:
Under Apiary's tutelage, the vision is to "build a platform of significant scale" in the managed comms market.
Connect boss Alex Tupman (pictured) will lead the combined business as CEO, with G3's James Arnold-Roberts taking the group managing director role.
Deal size:
Combining G3 and Connect purportedly creates a £55m-revenue managed services player. Connect claims to have hit sales of £30m during the year ending 31 December 2018, while G3 says revenue was "in excess" of £20m in the period ending 30 April 2019.
What they said:
Apiary Capital partner Nicki Boyd said: "We believe this is just the start of an exciting and highly productive collaboration and it is fantastic to be working with experienced and like-minded people who are totally aligned with our goals and objectives."
Tupman added: "Our objective is to create a highly scalable and focused business that can support the needs of a far greater and more diverse customer base, located in the UK and abroad."
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5. ECS Security spun out to form Adarma
The ECS Group bid farewell to its security wing in June as an MBO saw it rebranded as Adarma.
The MBO was led by David Calder (pictured below) and Nathan Dornbrook, with Livingbridge PE firm providing support and debt from Bank of Scotland.
It counts Splunk, Symantec and Tenable among its vendor partners.
Rationale: Paul Thomson, CEO ECS Group, said that the decision to separate "makes sense" based on ECS Security's rapid growth and that it now allows both entities to focus on their "core areas of expertise".
Adarma MD Calder elaborated that the spin-out was driven by the company's ambitions to become the UK market leader for FTSE250 companies across a range of industries.
Combined scale: Adarma has a headcount of 250 and revenue of £26.3m based on its year ending 31 December 2017 - its most recent accounts on Companies House.
What they said: "We believe there is an opportunity to partner with the team to build a business of real scale in the growing cybersecurity market," said Matt Caffrey, partner at Livingbridge.
"The team have built up a great business and we're excited to work with them as they grow."
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4. IntY acquired by ScanSource
Bristol-based VAD IntY counts Microsoft and Symantec among its partners and recently set up its first office in the US. It was acquired by US comms and point of sale distributor ScanSource for an undisclosed amount last week.
Rationale: ScanSource stated that the reasoning behind the purchase was to enhance its recurring revenue offering for partners.
It Cited IntY's CASCADE - a cloud aggregation and distribution platform - as a means of taking the "friction out of acquiring, provisioning and managing as-a-service offerings".
Both disties count Microsoft, Symantec and Acronis among their partners.
Combined scale: US VAD ScanSource reported overall revenue of $3.8bn for its year ending 30 June 2018, with its European business contributing 11 per cent of that figure. It recently opened a distribution centre in Southampton to boost its US presence.
IntY saw turnover of £12.5m for its year ending 31 December 2018.
What they said: ScanSource CEO Mike Bauer (pictured) praised the CASCADE platform and what the offering means for partners.
"CASCADE serves as the next piece in our continuing digital strategy and provides partners with critical capabilities, including software provisioning, data analytics, seat management, billing and support, so partners can sell more strategic cloud solutions and build strong recurring revenue practices," he said.
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3. MCSA acquired by Park Place Technologies
Third-party maintenance (TPM) business Park Place snapped up Buckinghamshire-based VAR MCSA in one of the biggest channel acquisitions of the year so far, though the details were not disclosed.
Rationale: Park Place has been acquisitive throughout 2018, gobbling up a string of businesses in Ireland, the US, Singapore and Latin America.
The MCSA purchase was its first of 2019 and CEO Chris Adams (pictured below) claimed its latest addition now makes Park Place the largest TPM in Europe.
"We've always been a global company but we used to use partners to deliver internationally and our revenue outside the US was very small," he told CRN last month.
"In 2015, we entered the [European] market in a more formal way in the UK.
"We have since become the largest player in Europe in the last four years and with this acquisition our revenue jumps, on the maintenance side, to north of £50m, maybe close to £60m.
"When you include the other services through MCSA, we're probably over £70m but in terms of maintenance companies, I believe this makes us the largest in Europe now."
Added scale: MCSA reported sales of £39.4m for the year ending 31 March 2018 - a 25 per cent drop on the previous year, which it attributed to a shift away from low-margin business.
What they said: Chief exec Adams stressed that Park Place would continue to acquire in Europe and the UK in order to bolster its presence in the region.
"Relative to our continued acquisitions strategy, it is opportunistic," he explained. "If a company comes up, we evaluate it.
"We have to make sure we have the capacity; we don't want to strain our resources and our people, but we haven't had to walk away from much. The key there is whether it's a cultural and business fit."
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2. SecureData acquired by Orange
SecureData was gobbled up by the French comms giant at the beginning of February for a reported £120m.
The Maidstone-based firm, which was previously owned by August Equity, claimed to be the UK's biggest independent cybersecurity provider and generated revenues of over £40m in its year ending 31 July 2018.
Rationale: Orange executive director Hugues Foulon said at the time that the purchase of SecureData was a "major milestone" in Orange's development in Europe's cybersecurity market.
"SecureData, just like Orange Cyberdefence, has successfully made the transition towards managed security services, and shares the same passion for cyber," stated Foulon.
"Cybersecurity has become a critical element for both large and small companies as they evolve in an increasingly digital-reliant world.
"We are convinced that the combined expertise of Orange Cyberdefence and SecureData will provide a powerful resource for our customers in ensuring the protection of their valuable data."
Added Scale: Orange hit sales of €41bn (£36.6bn) in 2018 and has a global headcount of 150,000. SecureData generated revenues of over £40m in its year ending 31 July 2018 and boasts a headcount of 205.
What they said: At last week's CRN MSP North event, August Equity's Mickey Patel said SecureData achieved an "exceptional exit" with an EBITDA multiple surpassing 20.
The reason for that was scarcity, he told the audience.
"There was nothing else in the UK that was £50m revenue, growing at 20 per cent, had a SOC, [and was an] independent MSSP in the UK," he said
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1. PCM acquired by Insight
Deal size: In the biggest blockbuster move of 2019 so far, global reseller Insight announced last month that it is acquiring rival PCM for $581m.
Rationale: The surprise purchase of PCM caught many in the channel off guard, especially considering the latter's recent M&A has been focused on services and skills capabilities as it shifts away from the traditional hardware reseller model.
PCM fits more into the traditional reseller space, deriving 75 per cent of its revenue from hardware sales, 15 per cent from software and 10 per cent from services.
Insight CEO Ken Lamneck (pictured left) opened up on the decision behind the move on a call with investors, explaining that PCM's customer base allows Insight to sell its previously-enterprise focused solutions to smaller customers.
Added scale: Combined sales form both companies are expected to hit $9bn annually, with PCM contributing $2.2bn to that figure.
What they said: "Strategically we have been very focused on how we build our mid-market play, from an accounting point of view, as we have been skewed towards the enterprise," Lamneck told investors after the announcement.
"That's an area that PCM brings a lot of value; about $1.6bn of its business is in mid-market and corporate clients.
"They will help us enable and grow our business, which is to take the engine we have built and extend that to a much broader base of clients, which is really important to us as we move into these solution areas."
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